


Riding Waves to Brighter Days

by lessonlatrifa



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 15:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8407222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lessonlatrifa/pseuds/lessonlatrifa
Summary: The 77th class has set sail to atone for their sins. It's not going to be easy for anyone, and Kuzuryuu knows this especially. He can't help but reminisce and gets himself into a funk. By some stroke of luck, Komaeda finds him and offers support. During their talk, Kuzuryuu finds a different perspective to look through...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ajspaniel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ajspaniel/gifts).



> wow ok. so this is a thing! i actually got this as a request in the comments on my last fic, which is odd since i've never gotten requests before. this was interesting to write! i had to read up on komaeda's character quite a bit so i didn't horribly mischaracterize him as some people seem to do, intentionally or otherwise. i hope this is alright! forgive me if either of them are a bit ooc, as i've never written either of these guys before. hope you enjoy!

Calm. That was a fairly accurate description of his surroundings. It was quiet as well, save for the sound of the ship cruising through the ocean. The initial hype of setting sail died down after a few hours, and almost everyone had retreated to the inside of the ship. The sun was starting to set, glowing a bright orange as its rays cast down on the golden waves below.

Gold… Kuzuryuu grinned bitterly to himself. That was one thing he lost, the hellish but lavish lifestyle of living in the Kuzuryuu clan. It was entirely gone, wiped away completely. He had nothing to fall back on anymore. His family and everyone in the clan was most likely dead. Especially…

Kuzuryuu sighed. He folded his arms on the railing and buried his head in them.

“Hey, Kuzuryuu-kun!”

Kuzuryuu groaned. Couldn’t he just have one minute to himself? He lifted his head and turned to see Komaeda walking toward him, waving his robotic arm. Kuzuryuu glared at him.

“What do you want?”

Komaeda laughed lightheartedly, stopping right next to Kuzuryuu. He looked out toward the horizon.

“I just wanted to come out and watch the sun set. I didn’t expect you to be up here as well.”

Kuzuryuu scoffed. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I was just about to leave.” He turned and walked away.

“Alright, then. Sorry for bothering you.” Kuzuryuu ignored Komaeda’s words and kept walking.

“...Hey, Kuzuryuu-kun, this kind of scenery makes you think, doesn’t it?”

Kuzuryuu stopped in his tracks. He didn’t turn around.

“I mean,” Komaeda continued, “when you encounter something calm after a long period of unrest and uncertainty, you can’t help but reflect, right?” He turned back to see Kuzuryuu staring directly at him. He held up his hands defensively.

“Ahaha, my apologies. Someone like me shouldn’t be making assumptions about how other people think.”

“Tch. Give it a rest, already,” Kuzuryuu mumbled. He walked back to his original spot, leaning forward onto the railing.

“Yeah, I was thinking. I was thinking about how fucked up this all is. How I helped cause the end of the world, basically. How we’re sailing off toward who-knows-where to ‘atone for our sins,’ whatever that’s supposed to mean.” Kuzuryuu rested his head in one of his palms.

“I’ve got nothing left. There’s no more Kuzuryuu clan, no more yakuza, no more home, no more anything. I don’t have a family anymore. There’s no way I could possibly hold proper funerals for any of them ‘cause they’re probably all buried in rubble somewhere. Hell, I can’t even do that for—” Kuzuryuu paused, feeling himself start to choke up a bit. He swallowed down the lump in his throat and continued.

“I can’t even do that for my little sister, for Natsumi, ‘cause the morgue she was in got blown up along with half the school. So now I gotta live on for their sake, I guess…” Kuzuryuu slumped a bit. “I’ve dealt with a lot of shit before, but this is way out of my league…”

Komaeda smiled. “Then I guess we’re pretty similar after all.”

Kuzuryuu glowered at Komaeda. “Don’t fuck with me. We’re not alike at all. You can’t even _begin_ to understand the shit I’ve had to—”

Komaeda raised a hand. “I don’t mean like that. Of course I haven’t lived the life of a yakuza before. That’s something unique to someone talented like you. No, I mean that we’ve both lost important people in our lives.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yup. Let’s see… I lost both of my parents in an accident when I was in elementary school.”

“I’m talking recently, moron.”

“Ah, that’s right. Well, if we’re talking more recently… I suppose I lost _her._ ”

“Her?”

“Yeah. You know who I’m talking about. She was important to me, and to you, and to everyone on this ship.”

Kuzuryuu grimaced. “So you mean…”

“Yup! I’m talking about Enoshima Junko.”

Kuzuryuu cringed at the name. That bitch… she drove everyone on that boat into despair. She was the cause of the whole world going to shit. She was what wiped out everything, everybody, even his family. He could never forgive her. Never. His vision started to tint red.

“You’re upset with that name, aren’t you?” Komaeda asked. “I feel the same way. Someone so horrible and full of despair was so important to me, to all of us. It feels terrible. I almost feel dirty. But you know, in a way, she was pretty helpful.”

Kuzuryuu could’ve gotten whiplash with how quickly he turned to scowl at Komaeda. He opened his mouth to give him an earful on how stupid he was, but Komaeda interjected before he could say anything.

“Ah, that was worded kind of poorly, wasn’t it? Well, let me explain myself. Think of it this way: everyone in our class was banded together and stayed together because of Nanami-san, right? Then, once we saw her execution, Enoshima sort of took on that role and kept us together. We were in a bad place at the time, but we still remained at each other’s sides during the Tragedy. And even now, with most of the world in ruins, we’re heading off into an unknown future side by side, coming together in the name of hope.”

Kuzuryuu turned back toward the horizon. “There you go again with that hope crap...” Komaeda laughed.

There was a pause. Nothing but the hum of the ship’s engine and water spraying behind them could be heard.

“Hey, Komaeda… No, never mind.”

“Hm? What is it, Kuzuryuu-kun? You can tell me! I know I’m not that great of a person, but I’m more than willing to listen to what you have to say!”

Kuzuryuu frowned. “Komaeda… do you ever wish you could just… I dunno, go back in time and fix it all?”

Komaeda tapped a finger to his chin. “Hmm… sometimes. It would seem easier to erase everything bad that’s happened up to this point, wouldn’t it?”

“Damn right it would.”

“But that’s in the past, and the past can’t be changed no matter what you do. That’s not what hope is. To me, hope is absolute good. Would being caught up in a past you can’t change instead of moving forward with us be the absolute best thing you can do?”

“But I’m not like you guys!” Kuzuryuu yelled. “I didn’t start off as some nobody like the rest of you! I can’t move forward as easily as you can!” Kuzuryuu’s face fell, and his voice softened a bit. “What’s someone like me supposed to do? I don’t have a name for myself anymore. I’m nothing.”

Komaeda smiled warmly. “If that’s true, then why don’t you join the ones who are in the same boat as you? We’ve lost just about everything, too, everything except each other. If family is what you want, we could be your new family. Besides, you didn’t lose everyone. You still have Pekoyama-san, don’t you?”

Kuzuryuu’s eyes widened. That’s true… he did have someone. How could he have forgotten?

“Then you’re not completely alone. Together, we can make a new name for ourselves. We can be one big family coming together and combating despair, shining brightly in the name of hope. That’s what I believe.”

Kuzuryuu chuckled and shook his head. “There you go again, talking crazy as usual.”

“Ahaha, sorry. Was that too cheesy?”

Kuzuryuu gazed at the horizon. The sun was much lower, and the sky was turning marvelous shades of pinks, purples, and oranges. He let Komaeda’s words sink into his head a little bit more. Now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe he didn’t have to be alone.

_New family, huh? I could get used to that._


End file.
